COOLANT TEMPERATURE

[Jasperthedog]

Once again I'm looking for a bit of advice!

I finally got round to playing with all the buttons etc., on the bars and moved from 'Trip 1' to 'Coolant Temp'. A daring move I realize. Imagine my surprise when, touring in the Welsh borders (hilly, twisty, fun) when I notice the temp is resolutely stuck on 66C. I stop and idle and very gently the read-out advances to 70-75-80-etc to 102 when the fans come on. So the read-out is accurate. But Why so cool on the go? What does everybody else run at? It is my experience that cool running is inefficient, fuel wasting and gives poor fuelling. This is a problem with this bike, I had put it down to an aftermarket zorst that the ECU could not match. I would expect a modern FI bike to run at +/-90C. Thoughts?

2019 Niken GT

Edited April 20, 2023 by Jasperthedog
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[HGP61]

Don't  think you have anything to worry about, sounds normal. My Tracer typically runs in the low 70'sC only gets hotter in traffic. Fuel consumption regularly mid 50s with a very impressive 68 MPG once (Lightly loaded touring, half of the mileage on single track roads on Mull and half the mileage 60mph A roads) Didn't check the coolant temp with that but I don't think it would have been anything over my normal low to mid 70sC.

[betoney]

5 hours ago, Jasperthedog said:

Once again I'm looking for a bit of advice!

I finally got round to playing with all the buttons etc., on the bars and moved from 'Trip 1' to 'Coolant Temp'. A daring move I realize. Imagine my surprise when, touring in the Welsh borders (hilly, twisty, fun) when I notice the temp is resolutely stuck on 66C. I stop and idle and very gently the read-out advances to 70-75-80-etc to 102 when the fans come on. So the read-out is accurate. But Why so cool on the go? What does everybody else run at? It is my experience that cool running is inefficient, fuel wasting and gives poor fuelling. This is a problem with this bike, I had put it down to an aftermarket zorst that the ECU could not match. I would expect a modern FI bike to run at +/-90C. Thoughts?

2019 Niken GT

 

7 minutes ago, HGP61 said:

Don't  think you have anything to worry about, sounds normal. My Tracer typically runs in the low 70'sC only gets hotter in traffic. Fuel consumption regularly mid 50s with a very impressive 68 MPG once (Lightly loaded touring, half of the mileage on single track roads on Mull and half the mileage 60mph A roads) Didn't check the coolant temp with that but I don't think it would have been anything over my normal low to mid 70sC.

I agree with @HGP61 on a cool day mine also stays around 70C while moving, temp rises a bit when sitting in traffic.  Riding on a warmer day mine will be 80-90C while moving.

[Jasperthedog]

Hmmmm. Thanks, guys. So it's back to the zorst as the root of all evil.

[fddriver2]

You're fine. My 1st gen FJ-09 in scalding hot and humid SOFLA runs ~165* F (74*C) while underway, and has for 65,000 miles. Zero issues. 

[ItsTracerTime]

Mine sits between (Fahrenheit) 140-ish and 190-ish when moving depending on ambient, will definitely kick the fans on at a light when it's super warm out though.

[bwringer]

Normal.

One thing to bear in mind is that you're seeing an actual temperature. As in any modern liquid-cooled engine, this varies quite a bit in normal usage.

However, in most cars and motorcycles, you don't have access to that information. The temperature display is a needle or bar gauge that is calibrated to rise to a specific spot and stay in the exact same spot during normal temperature fluctuations. (Or sometimes you don't get any display, just a red light if the temps go too high.)

The reason for this, of course, is that if owners ever see the needle move in the slightest, they absolutely freak out. Less trouble to just monkey with the response curve so that it stays the same during normal operation. 

[Jasperthedog]

Thanks for the comments and reassurances....BUT why does the WSM give the thermostat opening temperature as:If the t'stat does not begin to open until 80c+ and not fullyy open until 95C how come the engine temp indicates a steady 66C??

[skipperT]

Look here’s the deal: the published info in the service manual is for a technician sticking a thermometer in a container of coolant to monitor when the t-stat opens partly and fully. It’s written from the engineers’ data to allow troubleshooting of a component. Those numbers were derived under certain testing conditions  

It doesn’t in any way correlate to temp values viewed by the operator of a motorcycle on an instrument display while riding. 
 

The other posters above have given you good answers to your original question.

-Skip

Edited June 13, 2023 by skipperT

[Jasperthedog]

Hmmm. So the reading of 104C when the fans kick-in is entirely fanciful, then. And nobody has adressed the question correctly. I have direct contact with 5 other modern lean burn motorcycles, all indicate a running temperature of between 84C and 86C. Are these fanciful as well? I believe that Yamaha have a thermostat supply problem and all those not running at an indicated ~85C are affected.

If you believe that the indicated temperature is totally unconnected with the real temperature, at what indicated temperature do you begin to worry about overheating? And how do you know what the tepmperature is anyway? In other words, why have a digital read-out in the first place?

[skipperT]

36 minutes ago, Jasperthedog said:

Hmmm. So the reading of 104C when the fans kick-in is entirely fanciful, then. And nobody has adressed the question correctly. I have direct contact with 5 other modern lean burn motorcycles, all indicate a running temperature of between 84C and 86C. Are these fanciful as well? I believe that Yamaha have a thermostat supply problem and all those not running at an indicated ~85C are affected.

If you believe that the indicated temperature is totally unconnected with the real temperature, at what indicated temperature do you begin to worry about overheating? And how do you know what the tepmperature is anyway? In other words, why have a digital read-out in the first place?

No, not entirely fanciful - but working as designed. The fan kicking on at 104-106C is as programmed. If it concerns you, a ECM reflash can also lower the temp that the fan comes on. 
 

if my fan comes on, and coolant doesn’t piss out of the cooling system, then I ride my (and too many others to mention) motorcycle and I don’t worry about it. The temp display is just info for the operator. 

-S

[HGP61]

5 hours ago, Jasperthedog said:

 

 

5 hours ago, Jasperthedog said:

at what indicated temperature do you begin to worry about overheating? And how do you know what the temperature is anyway?

The car I have been driving for the past eight years takes about 5 mins of normal driving to indicate 90 degreesC after that it has NEVER varied mid winter from -5C to summer mid 30sC, an hour of slow moving stop start traffic, it has never changed from an indicated 90C. I believe this has been set like this by the manufacturer to stop drivers from panicking when the gauge moves a bit in it's safe normal range. As long as the cooling system is in good condition I don't think I would start to worry until the gauge was telling me it was heading up to about 110C but I would be more aware and looking for any other signs after 105C when I'm expecting the fans to kick in. It's still coolant under pressure at that temperature if it looks like it's turning to steam that's another matter.

[betoney]

12 hours ago, Jasperthedog said:

If you believe that the indicated temperature is totally unconnected with the real temperature, at what indicated temperature do you begin to worry about overheating?

I would only worry about overheating if the bike was actually overheating, I have ridden many times in central and southern California on Summer days with temperatures well over 100F and have never had issues, even in stop and go traffic with the fan running constantly.  The bike has never given me any reason to worry so I only ever focus on the ambient air temp display.

[Windster]

usually in cars temperature sensor is mounter in such place, so numbers wont vary mucth, but in some car models (older Alfa Romeo for eg.) it is mounted in sucth place, that numbers at gauge is going up and down a lot.Same is in motorcycles.Also Yamaha 3CP engineis normally running at about 70 deg.cel.annd goes up only when hot or going very slow speed.It is normal.

[maximNikenGT]

On 4/20/2023 at 11:31 AM, Jasperthedog said:

Once again I'm looking for a bit of advice!

I finally got round to playing with all the buttons etc., on the bars and moved from 'Trip 1' to 'Coolant Temp'. A daring move I realize. Imagine my surprise when, touring in the Welsh borders (hilly, twisty, fun) when I notice the temp is resolutely stuck on 66C. I stop and idle and very gently the read-out advances to 70-75-80-etc to 102 when the fans come on. So the read-out is accurate. But Why so cool on the go? What does everybody else run at? It is my experience that cool running is inefficient, fuel wasting and gives poor fuelling. This is a problem with this bike, I had put it down to an aftermarket zorst that the ECU could not match. I would expect a modern FI bike to run at +/-90C. Thoughts?

2019 Niken GT

Two questions - what is your typical ambient riding temperatures? And is a zorst=exhaust pipe?